Wall St. edges higher after retail earnings

By Abhiram Nandakumar(Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as better-than-expected earnings from Wal-Mart and Home Depot allayed some concerns about consumer spending ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Wal-Mart <WMT.N>, up 4.4 percent at $60.39, and Home Depot <HD.N>, 4.1 percent higher at $125.78, provided the biggest boost to the Dow and the S&P.
Positive results from the big-box retailers lifted the S&P 500 retail index <.SPXRT> by 1.45 pct.
Home Depot riv